The Eternal Struggle: Pathway of the Elements
by Shadow Raven1
Summary: Teenagers gifted with extraordinary powers must fight an ancient evil from centuries past...
1. Awakening of the Darkness

On a dark eve in October a figure wonders through the woods, late, near the bewitching hour. He stumbles into a clearing and observes three other dark figures gathered around a large black cauldron with a fire lit below it. The figures were middle-aged and wore all black robes. One was a female, the others were both male. He studied them closely as he could without being noticed. The wind blew and a chill swept through the air. The chill ran up the onlooker's spine and he shivered. Leaves blew around the figures' feet but they did not notice anything. They whispered to each other as if they were siblings as they paced around the cauldron in a circle with their arms raised. What were they doing, he wondered. A menacing dark cloud obscured the moon and everything darkened. The witches now only lit by the firelight began to chant in a raised voice, fighting the now raging wind.  
  
"Powers of darkness hear our cry,  
  
Bring back evil that can not die.  
  
We call you now on this night,  
  
Gain your power in darkened light.  
  
In this hour you shall raise,  
  
And with your darkness pierce the skies!"  
  
With the last word spoken, the winds picked up and thunder clapped from the rain clouds overhead. Dust blew up off the ground and swirled like a tornado above the cauldron. A black shimmer of light shone in the center of the tornado. Suddenly the light split in two and grew double in size. The two orbs began to encircle the outside of the tornado. They continued to multiply, until there were fifteen swirling around the twister. The twister moved from over the caldron to the ground. Then, just as quickly as it came, the twister vanished and in its place stood another middle-aged woman, dressed in the same black robes as the others. A screech owl hooted with her arrival and flew away. Darkness flowed off the figures like an aura of evil. The onlooker shuddered. The cloud never seemed to move away from the moon, and they all stood in darkness. "Greetings sister," the woman said. She responded with only two words, "I'm back."  
  
Kyle Corvus woke up from his dream shocked at what he remembered. The one sure thing he remembered is that the person in it that was watching them looked a lot like himself. One of his nightmares again. Why won't they go away! Sitting in bed for a little he curled up into a ball and silently wished he were dead. Turning his wrist over he glanced at the scars of his suicide attempt from a year ago. He glanced away painfully. Getting up he walked over to the mirror. As he looked at himself in the mirror, he was disgusted that he was 15-years old and still weighed 90 pounds. He stared into the mirror at his grayish blue eyes looking back at him. Oh my goddess he thought, why doesn't my hair stay one color. Today it was a silver colored blonde, as opposed to yesterday when it was a golden blonde. "Kyle, breakfast," his mom yelled from the kitchen. "Coming," he responded. After Kyle got dressed, he went down stairs into the kitchen. "I can't wait for Halloween; it's only in two weeks!" "Can you believe it!" "Yes, Samhain is in two weeks," his mom corrected him. "Oh yeah, that's what its called, sorry," he said. Just then, the telephone rang, and Kyle answered.  
  
"Hello," he said.  
  
"Hey, this is Branden, are we still going to the Cemetery at 9:00 to do the séance thing on the thirty-first?" the voice on the telephone said.  
  
"Oh no, the Samhain ritual is at 9:00 so I can't," Kyle said with a groan.  
  
"Well maybe the gang will meet us at 10:00, I was just confirming so I could contact them."  
  
"Yeah, and you can go to the ritual too ya know," Kyle stated.  
  
"Ok, I'll ask my parents."  
  
"Ok, bye."  
  
"Bye."  
  
Kyle hung up the telephone thinking that his mom really wanted him to go to the Samhain ritual that night, so there was no way, he could blow it off. Kyle's mom was a Wiccan and Kyle was studying to be one too. His mom said that he needed to be committed if he wanted to be initiated into the coven. So, he wanted to attend all the rituals that his mother's coven held and come to all the classes on Fridays. That is exactly why he wanted to reschedule the séance, so he could go to both. Just then Kyle glanced up at the clock and yelled, "Whoa, bye mom I got to go or I'll be late for school!" As he rushed out the door he could hear his mom yell, "Don't be late for dinner!" "Ok mom," he yelled back. 


	2. Meeting with Friends

Kyle decided to keep his head out of the clouds today; he had a long walk ahead of him. He looked around at the foliage and his breath as it sliced through the crisp autumn air. The leaves silently glided downward from their branch perches and made the entire town of BridgeWater look like it was aflame. Many had been caught up in the tourist season and managed to stay for life. Kyle had to admit it was a beautiful site. Continuing his fast pace, he almost ran into several people heading off for work and school. BridgeWater had been a melting pot for decades, so it's no wonder there was so many different peoples. He passed a group of kids all dressed in black with their hair dyed various unnatural colors. He also noticed that some of them were wearing pentacle necklaces. He involuntarily fingered his own, pulling it out from under his shirt, and running his fingers along the cool silver. Too bad not many people really know what these symbols mean, he thought. But hey, maybe they're witches too; there were plenty of them in this small town. He seriously doubted it though. Kyle then realized he was at school already, and it was still crowded at the doors. He thought he had been late, but it appears he was right on time. As he made it to his locker and started to put in his combo, Branden came up behind him. "Hey," Kyle said as Branden approached.  
  
"Hey, I talked to the gang and they said that it was fine and they would all be there," Branden responded.  
  
Kyle knew that Branden was a particularly 'big' kid but didn't really say anything most of the time. The truth was... all the kids that made fun of him for being 'fat' are the ones he could take down with no problem. Another thing that he found strange was Branden's hair. It was like autumn leaves, a shocking reddish orange. And once again, there it was. Those eyes, so empty looking, boring into Kyle's skull.  
  
"Great," Kyle finally said. "And what about the ritual, can you go."  
  
"Yea, my parents said I could go," Branden responded.  
  
Kyle walked to his first class, English, thinking of how cool the ritual was going to be, and the séance. Kyle walked in the room and saw Kayla sitting in the back. She flung her oak- brown hair over her other shoulder as he approached. Kayla and her precious hair. Her brown eyes stared off into space. She probably gets them from her Indian mother, he thought. Those eyes could always tell if you were lying. Always. He had only just met her earlier in this school year, and they had become friends almost instantly. Kayla had found out that Kyle was Wiccan, and she needed another person to talk to when things were boring. Kyle figured that they were such good friends because Kayla was Hindu and they both got crap from all the people in school who don't understand them.  
  
"Hey, did Branden tell you that the séance is at ten on the thirty-first?"  
  
"Yea," she responded. "So who's 'spirit' are we 'calling' at the séance?" Kayla asked.  
  
"I don't know?" "Maybe we'll just let them come to us," Kyle said with a smile.  
  
"Yea, well just make sure nothing tries to kill me or there'll be hell to pay." She said with a laugh. 


	3. The Dream

"What are we going to do?"  
  
"I don't know, his powers are too strong to control."  
  
"We've got to bind this gift before he hurts someone."  
  
"I'll go get the things we need."  
  
Kyle saw his mother and another woman he recognized from the coven standing over a child talking about some "gift." He knew that he was in the room with them but it was as if they couldn't see him at all. Just then, the wooden shelf at the back of the room fell down spilling its contents all over the floor. Kyle noticed that the shelf now looked rotten, as if years had passed in just a few seconds. Strange. What was going on? Kyle wondered. As the woman came back, the child started to cry sending the two women flying across the room with a gust of wind.  
  
"We've got to do this fast, its getting worst," his mother said as she helped the other woman up.  
  
His mother held up a berry and fed it to the child she slowly rocked it back and forth on her shoulder and the child quieted immediately. The other woman smiled as if to say she was glad the ordeal was over, but Kyle still stood in the background, as some ghostly form, watching the scene unfold. Who is that child? Is it the other woman's? Kyle knew his mother often helped the other women in the coven with their children, when Kyle was younger. the scene slowly faded and blackness surrounded Kyle once again.  
  
Kyle abruptly woke up to see the English teacher standing over him. Kyle sat up quickly. The class began to laugh all around the room, the teacher turned to quiet them, and then back to Kyle. "Didn't get enough sleep, Mr. Corvus?"  
  
"Sorry, I'm not a morning person." He replied weakly with a smile.  
  
As they got out of class Kayla stood at her locker located next to Kyle's. Thankfully, he had caught up with her this time. Their lockers weren't too far from the class, so they both normally got their first thing and talked, but he had to talk to Branden today, so she was in English far before him apparently. She finished putting her books away and looked at Kyle.  
  
"That bitch gave you detention huh?"  
  
"Kayla Kali!" came the teacher's voice from the door next to their lockers.  
  
"Your lucky you both aren't in detention for those types of attitudes."  
  
She then walked back into the room and left Kayla standing in awe. She turned to him, as he was about to leave for his next class and started to rant on and on barely intelligible.  
  
"Who does she think she is. that-"  
  
"Whoa! lets stop you there before you really do end up in detention."  
  
"I can't help it she's just a bitch."  
  
"Well, that may be so.ok, it is so.but I don't want to see you get in trouble again." "Come on we're going to be late for Geometry."  
  
They quickly ran to their next class barely making it in on time. The teacher sat quietly at her desk grading papers. The rest of the students walked around and found open seats. Kyle and Kayla positioned themselves in seats in the back next to each other. When class finally started and the teacher was getting something from a closet, they took the opportunity to discuss what to do after school today.  
  
"So, what are you doing this afternoon?" Kyle asked Kayla in a whisper.  
  
"Why don't we go to The Magick Circle?"  
  
"Cool, I haven't been there for a while, I need some more Spirit Incense for the séance. Better plan ahead ya know."  
  
"Ok, then I'll meet you in front of the school at three."  
  
"Cool."  
  
After math, Kyle had Earth Science, and on his way, he decided to invite Branden to go with them to the shop that afternoon. Branden was busy putting books in his locker, and turned around when Kyle approached.  
  
"Hey, Branden, want to go with me and Kayla to The Magick Circle this afternoon?"  
  
"Sure, when are you going?"  
  
"At three."  
  
"Ok, I'll be there."  
  
Kyle headed off to his next class hoping that this day would be over very soon, the shop was just calling out their names already. It had become one of the best places to hang out in the pat few years, since Kyle decided to train to become a Witch, and Kayla was Hindu, with some Wiccan beliefs thrown in, and Branden was Wiccan with aspects on Egyptian deities. The shop had soon wound its way around their minds and now was their favorite place to visit. As the day came to an end Kyle walked out to the front of the school. 


End file.
